Saab AlcoKey Earns Safety Award

12/06

Saab AlcoKey Wins Award from the Swedish Automobile Association

Saab Automobile AB has received the Swedish Automobile Association's award
Arets Hjulklapp (This year's Christmas Present) for making a major
contribution to the development of alco-lock devices with its Saab AlcoKey.
Sweden is in the forefront in Europe when it comes to traffic safety. Despite
this fact, drink driving is still a serious problem, which last year (2005)
accounted for approximately 35 percent of all fatalities in traffic accidents in
Sweden.

During a lengthy development program, Saab Automobile AB has worked with
solutions to the problems surrounding alcohol consumption and car driving. Saab
AlcoKey is a product that, thanks to its user-friendly operation, has the
potential to become the first such device in mass production for everyday use.
In its award citation the Swedish Automobile Association states:

"One of the most efficient measures to reduce the number of traffic accidents is
the incorporation of alco-lock devices as standard in newly produced cars. To
achieve reasonable cost levels, create optimal user friendliness and provide
technical quality, the car industry must push forward the development process of
this safety installation. Saab's development of - and ongoing field trials with
- Saab AlcoKey, will have strategic importance for safer traffic conditions and
will, at the same time, contribute to a beneficial development of competition in
the car market as a whole."

Smaller than a mobile phone, the slim Saab AlcoKey module incorporates a
flip-top cover with a mouth piece where the driver provides a breath sample
before starting the car. A radio transmitter then sends a signal to the car's
electronic control unit. This will either allow the car to be started, or keep
it immobilized if the breath sample is found to contain alcohol above the
permitted legal level.